


All The Little Things

by LostAthenian



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Reddit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24658732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostAthenian/pseuds/LostAthenian
Summary: It’s all the little things that make them love their girlfriends.(Originally posted to Wattpad)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, leo valdez/calypso
Comments: 3
Kudos: 89





	All The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a cute little Reddit thread of men saying what they loved about their significant other :)

Leo looked his girlfriend up and down, an incredulous look on his face.

"You're really starting to like coffee aren't you?" He chuckled, shaking his head.

Calypso swept the empty mug behind her back, cheeks red.

"You know," Leo continued, "I can go to the Starbucks across the street and grab you a gift card. I know you don't know how to work the machine and all, so you can still have coffee when I'm away. Yeah, I can get you one of their reusable cups and everything."

"Starbucks?" Calypso repeated, scrunching her nose slightly. "What's a Star—"

Leo laughed, shaking his head. She was too cute. Sometimes he had trouble remembering she was at least a thousand years old and had only recently been reintegrating into society.

"I don't see what you're laughing at, Leo Val-"

Leo simply shook his head at her again, putting his manuals away and sweeping his scattered tools aside. "Cmon Sunshine," he drawled, pulling her into his arms, "I'm just teasing you."

Calypso huffed, squirming and refusing to look at him. "I don't appreciate—"

"Cal," he said, his voice softer this time. He couldn't help but laugh a little at her expression when she met his eyes. Her face scrunched up, like she'd eaten a pinch of salt, then she started to turn away again.

"No, no, no," he chucked, untangling one of his hands to cup her cheek. "I'm not laughing at you, I swear."

She finally looked at him, her watery eyes pulling at his heartstrings. "You promise?"

"I promise," he affirmed, giving a mock salute before kissing her.

She rolled her eyes at his antics. "Now, what is this Starbucks you speak of?"

Leo wasn't done with her yet. "Hey," he said, voice low and soft like it always was when he got serious with her, "I was just teasing earlier. But I know you've been having a hard time adjusting and all, and I wasn't making fun of that. I really appreciate what you're doing, staying with me."

Calypso said nothing, just pursed her lips. Leo was worried he'd truly upset her, until she lurched forward for a searing kiss.

"Tell me what a Starbucks is," she said, and Leo would've been lying if he said he wasn't slightly turned on by the way she said it.

"It's a... a shop sorta. They sell drinks, like coffee and tea. I think you'd like it." Leo brushed a caramel colored lock of hair behind her ear.

"No!"

Leo startled a little, surprised by her sudden outburst. "No?"

Calypso blushed, ducking her head. "I-I like the way _you_ make it.

“The way _I_ make it?” Leo chuckled. “Angel, no I just put the grinds in and brew it with the machine. It's nothing special. At Starbucks, they have all these different flavors you can-"

"No," Calypso reiterated, planting a firm kiss on his lips. "I like the way you make it. It just tastes better."

Leo's heart melted, and it felt like word vomit was going to come out of his throat and ruin the moment. How could he properly and eloquently express the feeling that he'd do it all over again- the crash landing, the oath, the dying and reviving- just to be with her? He gave her his thanks in the form of a lingering kiss.

Every time he saw an empty mug after that, he got the same special feeling he had that day.  
________________________________________  
There was this... _thing_ that Piper did. It wasn't bad— no, not at all like that. In fact it was... kinda adorable? Pipes would kill him if she heard him say that though.

Living with Piper was _amazing_. Sure, she wasn't as clean as he was, but she was still tidy for the most part. She cooked some yummy vegetarian meals for the both of them, and she always did the dishes when she was done. She was great at folding clothes— a strange compliment, but hear him out. Somehow she _always_ managed to line up _every single seam_ until the clothes had been reduced to neat piles of folded laundry. Not only that, but she was a goddess to wake up to in the morning. Her choppy hair would be laid out across theit silk pillow cases (a moving in gift from Aphrodite), her tan skin glowing in the early morning light. But Jason's favorite part was when she woke up; she'd blink nice and slow, the morning light making her kaleidoscope eyes look like honey, and then she'd fix her eyes on Jason, who'd be staring at her like a creep, and she'd smile, soft and slow.

Jason loved his girlfriend. But all of those things, while great, were not _The Thing_. He hadn't really noticed it at first, not until they went out to eat at that new place Piper had been wanting to try, In The Vegan-ning. Up until that point, he thought it was a normal thing that all couples did; snuggling in cafe booths, playing footsie under tables.

They had spoken with the hostess and gotten a nice two person table facing the street outside, allowing for lots of light and people watching. Their seats were across from each other, which Jason obviously didn't mind— getting to eat while _also_ looking at his beautiful girlfriend also stuffing her face? That was a no brainer.

That is, until a deathly _screeeeeech_ split the tranquil atmosphere. Jason's hand went to his pocket immediately, scrambling for his gladius while his eyes scanned for trouble. Piper winced next to him.

"Pipes," he muttered, voice low. "I think—"

"Jeez, these chairs are loud."

Jason faltered, adjusting his glasses to make sure he was seeing correctly. Piper was (failing miserably at) scooting her metal chair closer and closer to Jason, cringing every time it made a scraping sound.

"Um, Piper?" he stuttered. "Wh-what are you—"

"Relax Sparky, I'm just trying to get closer to you," Piper said, sticking her tongue out slightly at the effort of moving the heavy chair.

Jason's cheeks flushed beet red. "Piper, if you wanted to sit next to me we could've just asked for a boo—"

Piper scoffed, waving him off. "There's no need Jason. I could literally just move the chair."

"I know, but—" Jason started to protest, but he shut up as soon as Piper flashed him a vibrant smile and rested her head on his shoulder. 

Jason tried to make an dignified noise, but it all went out the door and came out as more of a " _mrghah_ " when Piper wrapped one hand snugly around his bicep and squeezed his hand with her other.

Piper looked up at him, her kaleidoscope eyes wide and bright, then blessed him with another radiant smile. All he could do was smile softly at her, his eyes and heart turning to goo. He pressed a kiss to her temple, then rested his head on top of hers.

They stayed that way all throughout the lunch, smiling the whole time. And if anyone stared or thought they were weird, well— he didn't mind one bit. It wasn't until that day that he realized she did it _every. single. time_. they went out to eat. Gods, did he love his girlfriend.  
________________________________________  
Frank could never tell Hazel why he loved grocery shopping so much. It was almost cruel, the reasoning behind it. 

Hazel pushed the cart swiftly, her head bobbing up and down as she repeatedly looked down at their list, then up again to scan the aisles.

Frank was going to do it. He couldn't help himself. 

"Hey Hazel?"

"Mmhm?" Hazel looked up at him, her golden eyes gentle and soothing. He felt almost bad for doing this to her, but he was just too selfish.

"I'm going to grab the milk and eggs, okay? It'll be quicker if we split up."

"Okay!" Hazel nodded, then tip toed to press a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw— the only thing she could really reach without him bending in half. She was adorable.

Frank returned her kiss with a kiss to her hair, then a squeeze to her hand. Then he wandered off to do his terrible task.

First: the milk. It was all the way across the store, so it was quite a walk, but Frank didn't mind, because it gave him more time to do _his thing_. Quickly letting his eyes sweep over the prices and compare, Frank grabbed a half gallon of whole milk for Hazel and a carton of soy milk for himself. Then he wandered off to get the eggs. They weren't too far down from the milk, so it didn't take long to snatch up an egg carton.

Luckily for him, since he had to walk all the way across the store and then _back_ to find Hazel, enough time had transpired for his _thing_ to occur. He spent a couple minutes searching for Hazel's cinnamon curls and the shopping cart, but something strange was happening this time.

As he approached her from behind, he could see some guy leering at her. They were talking, Hazel laughing softly at something he said. The guy looked... well, kinda like a creep. He was thin and wiry, his bones sticking out of his skin like it'd been wrapped too tight and his clothes hanging loosely off his body. He had some scruff in patches on his jawline, and a dirty baseball cap covered a mop of greasy gray hair.

The guy was just about to launch into another story when he caught sight of Frank, strolling up to Hazel and him and probably looking ridiculous carrying a dozen eggs and two cartons of milk. It must've done the trick though, since his eyes widened and he scrambled away right as Frank for there.

"Oh, Frank!" Hazel exclaimed, sounding relieved. Then she did it. The _thing_.

Her mouth curved up in a shy smile, her eyes becoming bright pools of molten gold, and Frank just about died right there. Every time they were separated in the store, she gave him that smile, and every time, it killed him. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find excuses to separate from her just so he could see that smile.

"Thank god you're here," Hazel rambled on, "I need some help getting the flour up there. Do you mind?"

Frank shook his head with what he imagined was a dumb smile. Hazel just had one of those contagious smiles that made everyone around her feel warm and happy. Frank felt like the luckiest man in the world to be on the receiving end of those smiles quite often.

"Hey, what was that guy talking to you about?" Frank tried to sound nonchalant as he bent slightly to place the flour in the shopping cart.

Hazel wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure actually. He was kinda rambling and I couldn't quite understand him. I didn't want to seem rude, so I just laughed a couple times to make it seem like I was listening. You showed up at just the right time."

Frank grunted in response. 

"Oh, and Frank?"

He jerked his head up.

Hazel smirked. "You're cute when you're jealous." 

She pressed a kiss to his cheek, then sashayed off, cart in tow.

_Yup_. He was in love.  
________________________________________  
One of Percy's favorite things about Annabeth was her competitiveness. He understood that it was a real turn off to other people, especially other men threatened by Annabeth's dominant personality, but he loved even her more for it.

Everything with Annabeth was a competition: who could shower the fastest, who could gulp down a bottle of wine the quickest (quite a dangerous challenge, that one), who could obtain the best mile time (they were neck and neck currently, but Percy was training to finally beat her). But Percy's favorite was her hand holding competitions. 

In the car, around the apartment, walking downtown; it didn't matter. Anytime Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand, she engaged in a hand squeezing contest to see who could go the hardest. He purposely lost most of the time just to see the victorious smirk that pulled at the corners of her lips after ( _Most_. Gods did that woman have a grip).

Eventually, it became a thing between the two of them. An unspoken, unofficial competition and a way to soothe the other person, as if they were saying, _I've got you _. Anytime he was feeling bad, Annabeth would come into their office space to find him with his head buried in his arms. She'd burrow under his arms and plant herself on his lap and squeeze his hand as hard as she could, letting him know that she was there to anchor him. And every time Annabeth began to go stir crazy with stress and brew one too many cups of tea to be considered healthy for one day, he'd carry her into their bedroom and lay down with her, squeezing her hand until the blank look faded from her eyes and the stress knots in her shoulders loosened.__

__Some days were particularly hard for both of them: certain anniversaries, memories of a place too dark for the mind to truly process. On those days, they both sat on the couch, facing each other with heads bent until their foreheads touched, tears streaming from closed eyes and hands clenched tight within the other person's until the holes in their chests filled again and they could breathe._ _

___It was all the little things that made him truly love her._  
________________________________________  
Percy was clingy. That was a fact. He took every chance he could get to hold Annabeth's hand, grab her waist to draw her into a hug, or put his feet up on her lap, amongst other things. 

__Annabeth had been with Percy so long, their relationship had evolved to a point where they didn't have to speak as much, because all of Percy's touches meant something different._ _

__For instance, if he was squeezing her hand, he was telling her to stress less and relax more. If he grabbed her from behind and pressed a soft kiss into the junction of her neck, he wanted a pre-sex cuddle. When he brushed a stray curl behind her ear and cupped her cheek with a gentle hand, he was telling her she was beautiful and that he really appreciated her. When he gave her any sort of feather light touch on bare skin, he was telling her he loved her._ _

__At first, Annabeth had found Percy's touchy-feely-ness strange and even offputting. But over time, she'd come to understand that was Percy's love language, and she was able to categorize all of his touches so well that she could've come out with a dictionary if she wanted to ( _What it Means if a Perseus Jackson Touches You: What He Wants and How to React_ had a good ring to it)._ _

__But all of those things combined could never quite replicate the feeling she got late at night, in bed with Percy._ _

__Being the workaholic she was, Annabeth often worked late into the night, trying to perfect sketches of her projects, finding new building materials, and triple checking blueprints for mistakes. That being the case, Percy typically went to sleep before she did, lumbering into the office for a goodnight kiss before he fell into a deep slumber._ _

__And every time Annabeth slipped into bed after putting work away for the night, Percy began _The Reach_. Years of quests and demigod training had taught him to be alert, even when sleeping, so while he was a heavy sleeper, he _always_ knew when Annabeth came to bed._ _

__The Reach was when Percy immediately began to seek Annabeth out as soon as she dipped into their bed, his hands latching onto the first body part he could find until he had pulled her into him completely, engulfing her in his warmth. Then he began to shift, until they were spooning with Percy's arm wrapped fiercely around her waist and head nestled snugly in the crook of her shoulder. From there, he'd usually press a kiss into her neck and mumble something unintelligible before passing out again, and Annabeth would giggle before falling asleep to the smell of the ocean and chocolate chip cookies._ _

__Every time he did it, Annabeth got that feeling that she had when Jason first summoned lightning at the campfire so many years ago. Every hair on her body stood straight up, and she got this tight feeling in her chest like she was riding a roller coaster. The feeling would dissipate into little butterflies that flew all the way down to her toes, leaving tingles running down her spine and making her skin prickly all over. All she could do to deal with the overwhelming feeling of love flowing through her was clutch Percy's arm tight and press as many kisses into his skin as possible until her eyes began to droop and her breathing started to even out._ _

__They fell asleep like that every night._ _


End file.
